This is the latest move from WhatsApp to counter fake news in India

WhatsApp fake news

Jaipur: The tour of India in Jaipur, on a hot morning in Mecca, signs Facebook’s Whatsapp messaging service, pulls an open truck painted in lime-green colors in a dusty lane, where five men spread and start doing a sketch .

This program is part of a larger ground effort than WhatsApp, which has served millions of people in the country, where 200 million people use the service anywhere in the world.

Actors soon crowd, because the drama reveals that by spreading online misconceptions, mob violence can be provoked, especially in rural areas where caste and religious bias go deep.

In India, citing an example of an inexplicable lesson broadcast on Whats, one says, “Our society is better than them and this is the reason that you should hate them.” “If you are indeed one of us, spread this message.”

The purpose of such texts, pictures and videos is to sow the dispute and warn the other, because in the capital of Rajasthan’s western desert state, the audience is told how to identify forwarded messages and use WhatsApp responsibly.

Data portal IndiaSpend says that the drive follows intense governmental pressure to fight fake news and rumors for both Facebook and WhatsApp, which has created more than 30 deaths in about 70 inflection attempts since January 2017.

The campaign is not altruistic altogether. It is being run in collaboration with Reliance Jio, the fast-growing telecommunications carrier is controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, who has recently made Whatsapp available on $ 20 Geophone.

Instructions on installing and using the app on JioPhone, which connects millions of low-income Indians for the first time on the Internet, are also part of 10-city roadshows.

A spokeswoman for Whatsapp said in an email statement said that hundreds of people from Whatsapp and Geo are helping in running the campaign with some white people working in California, they said that the company has not disclosed financial details. A source familiar with the matter said that the costs were being paid by most Whatsapp.

Political heat

In the efforts of Whatsapp against counterfeit news in India, there is a limit on forwarded messages in the market where more users pass around messages, photos, and videos than any other.

It has launched Newspapers and Radio Campaigns and has tied up with Delhi-based Non-Profit Digital Empowerment Foundation to develop digital literacy courses for India.

The company is training the police and law enforcement officials so that they can use WhatsApp to help their jobs.

Whatsapp said, “Our goal is to drive one of the largest coordinated public education efforts on wrong information anywhere in the world.”

The Minister of Technology of India has demanded more than the work involved in the method of detecting the origin of “frightening” messages. But Whatsapp says it will not take such a step, for which it will need to weaken encryption and other privacy protection.

It is not clear how much public information campaigns will change people’s behavior. But in Jaipur, at least some messages are happening.

35-year-old teacher Bhavani Singh Rathore said, “How do I leave the Whitecap group created by strangers,” I started using the service a few months ago and took part.

He told Reuters, “And I also learned how to identify the forwarded message and do not forward it without checking its accuracy.”